# Homebrew Question - Temp. Control



## DiSiLLuZioN (Sep 7, 2005)

This hasn't proven to be too big of a deal, but more of a minor annoyance. 
I've finally graduated to All-grain mashes, so I purchased an outdoor propane burner and an enamel pot. Everything works fine, except I find it tough to keep the temperature under control during the mash. I generally shoot for around 165°, so usually I'll get the water to around 175° and then add the grains. The temp drops to my target range, I turn the flame down as far as it will go without totally dying out, and monitor it. I find that the temp continues to rise. With my last batch I just let it get to about 168-170, put the lid on it and turned the flame off. I had a floating thermometer in it, and so I kept checking on it till it started getting too low, which is when I'd fire up the burner again, and repeat till mash out. This seemed to work ok, but I was wondering if anyone else has had to deal with this problem, or if I'm just doing something wrong.


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## Mindflux (Dec 5, 2005)

I mash in a cooler. It's insulated, so it holds temps more. My temp would drop 2-5 degrees over the course of the mash sitting for an hour or more.

I haven't brewed in forever though


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## Smokey Bob (Dec 26, 2006)

DiSiLLuZioN said:


> This hasn't proven to be too big of a deal, but more of a minor annoyance.
> I've finally graduated to All-grain mashes, so I purchased an outdoor propane burner and an enamel pot. Everything works fine, except I find it tough to keep the temperature under control during the mash. I generally shoot for around 165°, so usually I'll get the water to around 175° and then add the grains. The temp drops to my target range, I turn the flame down as far as it will go without totally dying out, and monitor it. I find that the temp continues to rise. With my last batch I just let it get to about 168-170, put the lid on it and turned the flame off. I had a floating thermometer in it, and so I kept checking on it till it started getting too low, which is when I'd fire up the burner again, and repeat till mash out. This seemed to work ok, but I was wondering if anyone else has had to deal with this problem, or if I'm just doing something wrong.


First off, Get rid of the floating thermo. If you are serious about brewing, you will need some good thermometers.

What kind of propane burner do you have....? If it's one of those HIGH PRESSURE burners you will probably need to increase the distance from the flame to the mash tun.

Get rid of the enamel pot. They work, but not well with high-heat sources.
Go for a heavy bottomed stainless pot.

Frankly, I think the best way to transition from extract to all-grain brewing is to build a system around a GOTT cooler. There are folks that make wonderful tools that fit the GOTT, like sparging sprinklers, false bottoms etc. I used to mash in an SS Pot set in my oven and sparge in the gott. That's what I used before building a RIM system.

Brewing is fun, it's a long slope but a good one.

Robert :ss


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## DiSiLLuZioN (Sep 7, 2005)

Thanks for the input. I know I need to upgrade most of the equipment I have. I pretty much acquired most of it a piece at a time when I could afford it, so I'll look into making my next purchase.


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## Silhanek (Oct 23, 2006)

The thermometer I have was about $8 at Wal-Mart. I don't know how it compares to your floater, but it's been good for me so far.

For whole grain, I believe you should be steeping/mashing in a cooler like mentioned. I have a friend that does whole grain brewing and built a cooler with a screen for draining. Doing it in your pot isn't going to get consistant results. 

You should be able to make good beer with your existing burner and pot though. Just my :2


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## j6ppc (Jun 5, 2006)

Mindflux said:


> I mash in a cooler. It's insulated, so it holds temps more. My temp would drop 2-5 degrees over the course of the mash sitting for an hour or more.
> 
> I haven't brewed in forever though


Same here the cooler makes for a great mash tun and works great.
Must brew again soon. We use a set up like the one described in this article but the one pictured below should be easy and cheap to replicate.


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## DiSiLLuZioN (Sep 7, 2005)

Right on, thanks for the link and picture. You see, I'm by no means a pro here, and I definitely read everything I can about the whole process, but at first I thought it would be complicated. This method looks a lot more logical and a lot easier than the way I've been doing it. I think I'm going to go price materials this weekend.

-Jeff-


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